A nasty internet campaign against Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness has fans and famous friends alike leaping to their defence. Craig Bennett reports.
Fourteen years of wedded bliss and two children on, some cynics still refuse to believe Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness are the real deal.
Friends of the couple are furious about a vicious internet campaign, and bitchy blogger Perez Hilton in particular, who has been using his website to tell his four million readers Hugh should trade his wife for someone “younger”, “fresher” and “hotter” because she’s a “granny” and “frumpy”.
Deborra-lee, 54 and 13 years older than Hugh, is said to be deeply hurt by the mean spirited campaign, which has also outrageously suggested she is a “beard” for her younger husband Hugh, 41 – in other words, helping disguise his homosexuality.
Perez recently ran a spiteful attack under the headline: “This is Hugh Jackman’s Wife!” Across photos of Hugh kissing Mexican beauty Ana de la Reguera from a recently shot commercial, Perez scrawled “Not his wife” … then on a shot of Deborra-lee: “This is!”
Perez went on to imply that Hugh might contemplate a younger woman, and “frumpy Deborra-lee Furness must be wondering how the hell she got so damned lucky! We were wondering the same thing!”
That post brought an avalanche of criticism for the showbiz shock-blogger. There was massive support for Hugh and Deborra-lee from incensed readers, some of whom wrote that they were so angered by the attack they were logging off for good. As one so aptly put it: “Hugh is in LOVE with his wife!”
Close friends say the couple’s 14-year marriage is rock solid, and that Hugh and Deborra-lee are doting parents to their children, Oscar, 9, and four-year-old Ava.
Packed To The Rafters star Denise Roberts was there when Hugh and Deborra-lee met and fell in love on the set of the 1995 TV series Correlli, which she co-created.
It starred Deborra-lee as a prison psychologist and Hugh, in his breakthrough role, on the inside for armed robbery.
The story saw their characters fall in love, and Denise says the same thing was happening, simultaneously, in real life.
“There was incredible chemistry on-screen and off, there were instant sparks. I have never seen two people more in love. I can’t believe anyone would want to contaminate their beautiful relationship with snide remarks.”
Hugh has previously said he knew he’d marry Deborra-lee soon after meeting her on the Correlli set.
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